I got a leg!

So, Mom signed me up for this thing called "Rally-O" a couple of months ago. We've been doin some practicing and Sunday was finally the big day!!

Mom was super nervous, but I knew we'd do fine.

The course was relatively easy, since this was our first competition we were were competing in the Novice A ring. 14 stations, with a lot more room between stations than when we are practicing in class!

There were about 14 other competitors. Some of them seemed like they really knew what they were doing, but others seemed just as 'green' as me & Mom.

After all was said and done, we got 86 points out of 100. My first qualifying leg & fourth place over all! Whoohooo! After the judge handed out the ribbons, Mom & me went up to talk to him to see what he marked us off for. First thing the judge said was "well, your first problem is he's a Great Dane". DOH!! Luckily he was just jokin (kinda...I mean really, we all know I'm no border collie or golden retriever, right? I do things my way....slow and steady.) Anyway, then he told us we did good for our first time. I got a few points off for laggin behind Mom and sittin crooked (ha! He's lucky I even sat!!), and then he told us the big news. We woulda gotten 1st place, but Mom screwed up!!! On the 3rd station, I had to do a "sit-down-stay" and Mom had to walk around me. Apparently, Mom shoulda stopped when she got back to my shoulder...but she didn't realize that so as soon as she got back in position she asked me to 'heel' and kept walkin to the next station. Double DOH!

My favorite Auntie Holly shot a video of me & Mom while we were going thru the course, but I don't have it yet to share with you. As soon as I do I'll post it so you can see for yourself where Mom needs more training. BOL!

Oh well. I'll cut her a break since this was our very first competition together. Looks like I'm gonna hafta take her back to class on Thursday and do some more practicing with her though. Boy...a dog's work is never done!

(relatively) Wordless Wednesday

can I go back to bed now?

When there's a break in the weather...head to dog beach!

Its been awful rainy here for the last few days. Yesterday there was a bit of a break, so Mom was able to take me to the beach.

I got a bath right after though, so now she won't let me out in the yard or take me to the park cuz she says both are too muddy! She can be so mean sometimes!!

Wordless Wednesday

Urban Safari - South Park & Burlingame

This weekend, Mom took me on an Urban Safari. Its a business here in Sandy Eggo that conducts walking tours of the neighborhoods, providing interesting information & history that you might not know. Our safari was led by Patty, a super friendly woman who loved all the doggies! Normally, she doesn't allow doggies on her tours, but she set this one up specially for our Dog Walkers of San Diego Meetup group.

We met up at Grant Market in South Park and did a little more than a 2 mile loop, learning all about the South Park & Burlingame neighborhoods.

It was a great group of people. A big variety of doggies. We had a Boxer, a Pug, a Jack Russell, a mini Australian Shepherd, a Standard Poodle (Paxton...one of my BFFs!), a Pit Bull (Giner...my other BFF!), a Maltipoo, a King Charles Cavalier, 2 black German Shepherds, a Shepherd Mix & the youngest member being a 4 month old Golden named Buddy.

Poor Paxton stuck his head where it shouldn't be, and ended up getting pee'd on when the boxer was leaving his peemail. BOL, I just had to laugh at him!

We learned about how South Park was originally designated as a neighborhood in 1870, and then was developed in the early 1900s. It was designed to be a more 'upper scale' neighborhood. One way to accomplish that was to name the streets after prestigious colleges. Many of the original sidewalks still exist and have the original name of the street stamped into them. Since then the streets have been renamed, but it was fun to learn that piece of history!

Also, anyone who bought a lot in the neighborhood had to agree that the house they built would be valued at $3500 in order to keep the lower class people out. BOL! Can you imagine a house worth $3500 paper monies in our day? That's crazy!



We walked throughout the neighborhood, stopped at key points of interest along the way.

South Park is noteworthy for its Craftsman style houses & Spanish Colonial Revival homes. This is a really nice example of a Craftsman. Simple lines, quite the opposite of the popular Victorian style houses.

This poor dog was quite suprised to find a whole gang of dogs just outside his front door!

As we walked along, all of a sudden I saw this big rock on the grass. When I investigated it closer, I realized it wasn't a rock...it was ALIVE! A big tortoise who lived in the neighborhood was out enjoying the sun and having a snack on the grass.

He was a bit scary, so I kept my distance

One of the newer buildings in the neighborhood had a beautiful mural painted on the side of it. The artist is Shepard Fairey, the same person who most recognized by his Obama "Hope" poster. Can you see the similarities?

Many of the old buildings have been restored and redeveloped. This old firehouse is now a gym.

As we kept walking, we eventually got to Burlingame. I could tell as soon as we got there cuz the entire neighborhood has pink sidewalks!

This neighborhood is also known for its architecture & beautiful houses.

Miss Ginger must have known we were going to be visiting the neighborhood with pink sidewalks, cuz she had her toes done to match!

This sidewalk was stamped with the name of the developers of the neighborhood.

While many of the houses in the neighborhood were deemed historical, there were a few more modern designs.

On our way back to Grant's market, Patty pointed out an interesting store. I wonder if the alien Groucho is aware of it!

It was a super fun way to spend the afternoon...but I think it wiped out little Buddy!

One last thing Patty pointed out to us at the end of our walk. Some of the sidewalks even still have these tie-ups for horses. Everyone of course immediately thought of me! What's up with that!?!

F.I.D.O Beach Cleanup & blog hop

The group FIDO (Fiesta Island Dog Owners) is trying to save this fabulous place as a leash free area for dogs. Developers are coming in, and right now the plans are to take 1/2 of our area away. That's a lot, considering its only 1 of 2 offleash areas at the beach for us doggies!

So, in order to do our part, the San Diego Great Dane meetup had a meetup to help clean up Fiesta Island. Unfortunately, not many Great Dane owners showed up...it was just me, Atticus & Ari, and Wilson. Its really too bad more owners didn't come out to participate in this event...its super important for everyone who enjoys it to come out and keep the area clean!

It was a fun day...there were lots of dogs on the island with their owners...but not very many people helping with the cleanup. Even the horses showed up! When asked if they were going to help clean up, they just said 'horse poop is good for the environment'. WHAT!?!

Mom was pretty angry about that. I don't know about you, but she doesn't like steppin in horse poop any more than she likes steppin in dog poop. Not only that but she REALLY gets grumpy when I eat it! Sheesh..maybe she should try it sometime..its actually quite delicious!

Atticus, Wilson and I had a good time though...even if there weren't a lot of others danes around.

Our Moms & Dad's picked up lots of trash and old poop from irresponsible owners.

and, at the end...we even won some cool stuff in the raffle!